Mate is really the only "caffeinated herbal" I can think of. All the rest aren't. Rooibos is my favorite herbal; it makes nice fruity blends. In fact, as long as you're thinking about blends, you might as well blend your own. Masala chai, minus the tea leaves (so basically cloves, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, ginger) is easy to make and very tasty. Of course you can blend whatever flavorant you want; try adding dried fruits or fruit juice or fruit rinds. Rosehips, chamomile, lemongrass, etc. should not be difficult to procure either.

All sorts of vendors sell good herbals since they're not difficult to source or make. Adagio has some that look very tasty

This is just semantics, but I've noticed that the word "tea" is used much more loosely in the English language than "chai" or "cha" in their respective languages (even Western ones like French). From dictionary.com:

tea -n.

...

4. any kind of leaves, flowers, etc., so used [to prepare a beverage by steeping], or any plant yielding them.

5. any of various infusions prepared from the leaves, flowers, etc., of other plants, and used as beverages or medicines.

...

In other words, in English, "tea" does not refer strictly to cha, but many think it does. It seems to me that this ambiguity and the resulting confusion arises at least partially from tea drinkers in the West being so far removed from the origin of tea.

Poohblah wrote:In other words, in English, "tea" does not refer strictly to cha, but many think it does. It seems to me that this ambiguity and the resulting confusion arises at least partially from tea drinkers in the West being so far removed from the origin of tea.

Well, it really DOES directly refer to cha, being as the word *tea* was derived from a chinese verient (t'e)... We do have words for herbal infusions (tisane), but English PEOPLE don't understand tea very well yet... so let's not lower our tea standards by allowing this as an exception